Niffler, as a creature, is born with a special fondness for all things shiny. Every day, it's either out treasure-hunting or on the way to treasure-hunt, and is rarely still and quiet.
The Niffler in front of him was not even a month old yet, tiny, looking just a bit bigger than a Galleon—probably sneaked here when Newt wasn't looking.
After all, this isn't the first time something like this happened. Back in Dorset, Kael noticed that Newt spent at least three hours a day finding those Nifflers who'd scampered off to who-knows-where.
If it were anyone else, they'd have already lost it by now—at least Kael was sure he would have.
But, if it's just one, that should be all right…
So as not to worry Newt, Kael wrote him a letter soon after he left the suitcase, and sent it off with Ladon.
Ladon grabbed the envelope in its beak and flew out through the open window.
"This is just way too inconvenient."
Watching Ladon's silhouette fade into the distance, Kael stroked his chin thoughtfully.
The Magic Realm is great in every way—except its communication methods are ridiculously primitive. An owl round trip takes at least half a day. No way to compete with the convenience of a telephone.
Sadly, even though Newt himself didn't mind these Muggle devices, their house was just way too remote, practically deep in the forest, and there was also a Muggle Repelling Spell around, so there was basically no chance of installing a telephone.
After seeing off Ladon, Kael put the Niffler back in the suitcase, went to take a shower, and changed into a clean set of clothes.
Worth mentioning—those spare clothes Chris had sent to Dorset were all last year's, and since Kael had grown quite a bit taller this year, the clothes were now uncomfortably tight.
In the end, Tina helped alter them, so they were just barely wearable.
Not long after, the Weasley Brothers dropped by. The moment Kael opened the door, they barged in like a pair of bandits.
"We just saw your owl, so we knew you were back!"
Fred folded his arms, blocking Kael's way with a deadly serious expression.
"I can't believe you actually disappeared for half a month without telling us a word!"
George blocked Kael from the other side.
"And the worst part is, we didn't get a single letter in all that time… Do you know how worried we were about you?"
Faced with Fred and George's aggressive act, Kael's expression didn't change at all.
Worried about him? That might work to fool Ron, at best.
"If I remember correctly, you guys didn't send me any letters these past couple of weeks either, did you?"
Kael raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure this is about worrying about me?"
"Uh…"
Fred and George's serious faces crumpled instantly. They exchanged a glance, and an entire conversation passed between them in that look.
"Did you write to Kael?"
"No, I thought you did."
"Funny, I thought the same thing."
...
In fact, the day Kael went to Dorset, they'd already found out from Chris, so of course they weren't worried.
The whole "worried" thing was just a plan they'd come up with beforehand—a convenient excuse to mess with Kael.
Who knew their "perfect plan," put together over a whole evening, would collapse before even getting started.
Mostly because all their energy was going into researching the Skiving Snackbox line—they never even thought of writing to Kael.
"Ahem… Of course we were worried about you."
Fred said a little awkwardly, "But you know, Errol is already very old. We just couldn't bear to make him fly that far to deliver a letter."
"Fly that far?" Kael narrowed his eyes. "So, from the sound of it, you actually know where I went, huh?"
The twins' expressions grew even more unnatural.
"…Just a guess, yeah, just a guess." Fred grinned sheepishly. "Now that we see you're fine, we're relieved."
"Is that so…" Kael drawled, "Seems your guess was eerily accurate. I suggest you take Divination Class this term—you two would be absolute stars there."
Right now, his expression was just one oily hair short of looking exactly like a certain Professor of Potions.
"Er… we'll think about it." George turned away a bit guiltily, then clumsily changed the subject: "Anyway, good news! In these few weeks, we not only successfully finished the Ton-Tongue Toffee, but even made a second Skiving Snackbox product!"
As he spoke, he pulled out a piece of fruit jelly from his pocket.
The orange jelly glistened like a tiny pea.
Fred had apparently forgotten everything from before. He blinked. "Wanna guess what it does?"
Kael took the candy.
After the Ton-Tongue Toffee incident, Fred and George had been much more careful this time—there was no trace of Magic Potion smell. No way to guess from that angle.
Kael thought for a bit and gave a random answer.
"Eat it and you'll start having nosebleeds?"
At Kael's words, the twins' eyes both lit up immediately.
"Nosebleeds?!" Fred got excited. "Kael, that's genius!"
"Why didn't we think of that?" George smacked his own forehead, like he was trying to knock his brain loose.
"What could be better for skipping class than spurting a thousand nosebleeds? Kael, you're a genius!"
Kael smiled. "Thanks, can't deny you two have great taste."
Even if nosebleed was their own idea to begin with, Kael was happy to take the compliment.
"Shame, school's about to start," Fred sighed. "Otherwise we could try making it now."
"Guess we'll have to wait for next year." George sounded regretful too. "Or maybe the Christmas holidays?"
Watching the pair mope as if they'd just lost a hundred Galleons, Kael grinned and waved the candy in his hand. "So, what does it actually do?"
"That's Vomit Candy," George explained with a shrug. "Eat it and you'll vomit nonstop."
"But what you're seeing is just the semi-finished product," Fred added. "Nonstop vomiting obviously isn't ideal, so we're still working on the antidote."
"Need a hand?" Kael asked.
"Not this time."
Fred shook his head. "The main ingredient is diluted Sneezewort juice—with Ruta Graveolens and daisy roots, it's easy to solve. We're almost there."
Kael nodded, enlightened.
Sneezewort and Ruta Graveolens really did complement each other for this purpose.